The worst estate agent I have ever used to sell a house.
It was a catalogue of cock ups from start to finish. Merthyr branch placed it with PA Black in Cowbridge as it was classed as a premium property. Neither branch knew what each other were doing. We had one viewing in three months. No contact whatsoever throughout. No feedback from the one viewing. When we asked for price changes or things adding or changing, they never happened. No reply to any messages sent.
I even went to view a propert... read full review

This agent is utterly useless. In fact they are the cause of all the problems encountered by the Landlord and Tenant. They fail to communicate 99% of the time, have no interest, are inconsistent in everything they do, have staff that have no knowledge or idea of what is going on "sorry I was moved to debt recovery 6 weeks ago and haven't done anything"! Is typical of what you will hear, if you are lucky enough to have someone answer the phone. They fail to listen, fail to do their j... read full review

Comment on agent fees

Services: Lettings (as a Tenant)
Would you recommend?: No
Postcode: Cf33

Lettings (as a Tenant)
Postcode: Cf33

2people found this helpful

There has been a long, protracted history with this letting however I will do my best to paraphrase the situation.
On the 9th of September âÂ€Â“ I was provided with the Checkout Report and was asked to confirm my bank details for processing the return of the bond deposit.
I responded the same day with said details and sent numerous chase emails to get the value of the proposed deductions from the landlord (12th, 19th Sept and 3rd October).
On the 4th of October I was provide... read full review

The maintenance team and I believe the whole management are incompetent and careless. Try to avoid this estate agent as they are a nightmare. The only thing they are interested in is collecting the rent. They don't care whether the house is habitable or not. No matter how many times you report a fault the only thing they do is emailing the landlord. They are not ready to take any responsibility toward the tenant. Even when they deal with a problem, they do it partially so you have to spend all o... read full review

This sale was a rather protracted one with the buyer's solicitors being somewhat less than competent. Dawn kept on pushing for a sale - without her help and tenacity we would have still been trying to sell it in six months time!
Well done and a huge thank you to Dawn... read full review

Waste of time and liars. Maintenance team sent an unsuitable imcompentant contractor to carry out work which wasn't completed to building regs. Even though I raised concerns the day the work was being carried out they continued to pay the contractor. After a whole year of chasing and being told "we'll look in to it" & "I will call you back with the information", they finally admitted they had paid him immediately after the work had been carried out and "due to the... read full review

Comment on agent fees

Since talking to other agents it appears their fees are very high for no reason at all.

Peter Alan have been infinitely hopeless at every stage of this process and I continue to be disgusted by their behavior months after I have left the property.
On the day of moving in, I was refused the keys to the house because they had not completely their gas safety checks on time. This left me, and all of my belongings, homeless for three days until it was rectified.
Upon moving in, the house was empty although I had specifically requested that the house remain furnished. Peter Alan's in... read full review

This agency is very greedy. For a start their up front costs are higher than anyone else in Swansea. We have been renting nearly two years now, our current house is exactly the same pcm as the one we were going for with Peter Alan however they demanded a guarantor and £90. This is because my base salary is low and 60% of my income is overtime. We did offer to provide payslips etc as proof.
They also refused a 12 month contract and would only offer a 6 month contract that we'd have to pay ... read full review

What agent could do to change your mind?

Noticably higher than anyone else's but for no discernable reason. I don't understand why a basic check and photocopying ID costs ‚£360 for two people.

Comment on agent fees

Noticably higher than anyone else's but for no discernable reason. I don't understand why a basic check and photocopying ID costs ‚£360 for two people.

After having 2 house viewings confirmed, re-arranged work commitments to view the properties, only to have BOTH viewings cancelled at the last minute. I found the explanation that both houses were suddenly unavailable to view very unlikely. I suspect that both employees had something else planned which required an early finish on their part. Very poor attitude and would not give me a confirmed concrete alternative viewing date.
If this is their attitude with prospective clients, I have no wish ... read full review

Useless office. Took money and promised necessary works would be done. 5 weeks later and still got rotten windows, cracked stairwell wall, condemnable cooker, nuisance tenant downstairs constant banging and fighting at 3 am involving police. Not told about this but they knew as said she was asked to move out and they have a whole file on this. Now say could take months to get her out legally....Asked for replacement flat 2 weeks ago. No response..WE WILL GET BACK TO YOU IS THEIR MANTRA. I wouldn... read full review

What agent could do to change your mind?

Behaved sensibly and been honest from the start. Sorted the maintenance issues before tenancy taken up.

I have had numerous issues with Peter Alan from the date of moving in over a year ago, these issues have been constantly ongoing and whenever you report a maintenance issue there is a song and dance over it being done, after weeks or even months of constantly phoning and arguing with them they may finally get the work done. They repeatedly use the landlord as the reason for not being able to complete work which they are legally required to undertake to the point that local council services have ... read full review

Complete incompetence on Peter Alan's behalf from branch level (Pontypridd) to Lettings Division in Culverhouse Cross. Neither the Team Leader nor the Finance Department knew when my next rent was due following the end of a tenancy agreement. "Management" fees are a joke - 13% including VAT when I had to constantly chase them and they didn't inspect my property once in 6 and a half months. They were also unprofessional in their dealings with my tenant. I had recommended them to two oth... read full review

What agent could do to change your mind?

Done their job properly! Inspected the property regularly. Renewed contracts punctually. Known when new contracts and rent was due. Things I took for granted that they would do. Silly me!

Rented a furnished property in Cardiff through Peter Alan. From the start of the tenancy agreement there were problems with paperwork not done properly. The house was filthy and had to be cleaned and painted from top to bottom before we could move in. Peter Alan said that that was our own fault because we had signed the tenancy agreement. Constant problems with appliances and blocked drains throughout tenancy. We were without a refidgerator for 1 month because the landlord lived in China and wou... read full review

Incredibly disappointed, viewed a flat, agreed to rent and was told the landlord would let me start renting it a few weeks later on the phone before my visit, was assured the flat was mine, went on holiday and got an email a few weeks later saying they had decided to let it to someone else.
They pulled the rug from under me and I'm absolutely gutted, will not be dealing with Peter Alan again.... read full review

Hi, I am sorry to hear that you were disappointed with the service from our Bridgend branch. Would you be able to please email customerservice@peteralan.co.uk with further details and we will look into this for you. This will also help us to improve our service in the future and avoid any similar situations from occurring. Many thanks....

1 Star Review

Oct 10,2014

By: 'Under valued customer'

Oct 10,2014

Branch: Blackwood, 131 High Street
Services: Sales (as a Buyer)
Sold price: £66000 Would you recommend?: No
Postcode: CF82

Disgusting, shocking, appalling, ridiculous, horrendous, unforgivable, crap and poor. Bought a house from them, it was like trying to get blood from a stone. Avoid. Unless you use the manager.... read full review

Very disappointed with Peter Alan. So much so that as soon as the contract ended we left and are looking for another estate agent. They failed us in so many ways:
> No contact - were promised status reports, none ever came
> Took them over a week to get the property on right move
> Quite often couldn't get through to anyone on the phone
> Very few viewings (if I couldn't get hold of them not surprised that prospective buyers couldn't)
> Had to ring on several occasions to fin... read full review

Comment on agent fees

The fee\'s quoted were fine. They matched the 1% fee from other agents.

Services: Sales (Prospective customer)
Would you recommend?: No
Postcode: sa3

Sales (Prospective customer)
Postcode: sa3

2people found this helpful

This company is quite possibly the not backward thinking bunch of idiots i have ever come across, the level of intelligence within the company, or at least the Swansea branch is negligible, i am surprised they manage to find the office on a daily basis, or maybe they sleep there? Who knows?... read full review

Very poor communication. Few viewings and even fewer that did not appear to be anything other than a response to my telephone calls. Slow and needed badgering to drop price as agreed. Different people answered phone as main contacts were not available and those in office poor on the case details. Call backs promised did not happen. I liked the on line photos but I could get that cheaper else where. Unhappy with the feel of the whole process and this was a sole seller agreement!... read full review

What agent could do to change your mind?

consistent and informed communication. Do what you say i.e. follow up calls.

you wouldn\'t let my girlfriend rent at 1st because she was Bulgarian had the funds in account she couldn\'t pay one up front and admin fee she had to pay full rent of 6months up front, and now you wont release the bond, apartment returned a1 condition. why ? will be contacting my solicitors... read full review

Have just received my renewal contract for a property that has a six month contract. Instead of being able to role it monthl;y i have to sign another six months but i also have to pay ANOTHER admin fee of £50 just to sign the new contract!! I have never had this before. My partner and i have already paid them £270 at the start, now they want another £50 every six months?!!? That is just ridiculous!... read full review

Lazy good for nothing liars !!!! Firsty when we decided to sell our house we made an appointment to see peter alans mortgage advisor on a sat morning but low and behold she pulled a sicky and cancelled. This should have been the first indication that they were unreliable losers. Anyways we continued with the process and our house went to market and within less than two weeks they were badgering us to drop the price. If I was not mistaken im paying them to be doing the hard graft to sell my house... read full review

I live abroad and havent let before so I asked Peter Alan if they could see to everything for me which they agreed to do but right from the start it has been a catastrophe. I will try to keep this short but it will be difficult. Two possible tenants fell through but, despite emailed requests, I didnt know until weeks after and in the first case didnt hear anything at all. Finally in March - six months later, when I had already decided not to let it as I wanted to spend some weeks there during t... read full review

We had the worst experience in the UK with a letting agency. We are now trying to get back the fee we paid to them, because we don\'t want to have anything to do with them anymore. Run away as fast as you can!... read full review

Very unprofessional, every point of contact has been a disappointment, gross failure to do the simplest of tasks, I understand my tenants are also very unhappy and are seeking compensation from Peter Alan Lettings... read full review

It's a shame offensive language is out of bounds as it would be the best way I have to describe how inept, rude and generally horrendous Peter Alan really are.
I have had numerous problems from before even moving in to the property! Delay after delay was caused due to their complete lack of administrative ability. When we finally got to the signing of the contract the woman spent the whole time on the phone to another branch as she had no clue how to fill in the forms (more tipex was used th... read full review

I purchased my flat from the City Road branch in 2007. It was a pretty awkward purchase with plenty of legal issues to keep everyone on their toes! It actually took 14 months from agreeing the sale to completion, but through no fault of Peter Alan. They were great, keeping me up to speed at all times and getting invloved when necessary to keep things moving along! they certainly earned their fee.
Should I decide to sell the property I will be straight on the phone to them! Now the legal issue... read full review